During our visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, Corrie and I hiked up Hallett Peak via the Flattop Mountain Trail. This poplular hike is close to Bear Lake and the Estes Park entrance. It was amazing. The scenery was gorgeous and the weather held until we were on our way down. At the end we were soaked, satisfied, and smiling. Feel free to hike with along us via our Flickr set. Titles, captions, and notes are included. Enjoy! We certainly did!
While exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, Corrie and I spent two days at the Glacier Basin Campground. This watercolor depicts the stunning view near it’s entrance. Using Glacier Basin as our home base we did several hikes in the area. You can see images from our hike past several alpine lakes on my Flickr account.
This watercolor sketch was created during “happy hour” at Site 106 of the Winding River Resort, just south of the west exit of Rocky Mountain National Park. Corrie and I really enjoyed our stay at this campground. It was the ideal spot to pitch our tent after a long, exciting, but tiring week of high-altitude hiking and trekking. The view from our site was gorgeous. Sitting at our picnic table, we were able to gaze across an idyllic farm scene of grazing horses and bathing ducks, with the Rockies serving as a backdrop. This campground was significantly less crowded than the one we’d stayed at the other two nights, so we felt like we had the view all to ourselves.
We didn’t realize this at check-in, but included in our stay was a complimentary wake-up call. At 6am, just before we’d set our watch alarms, two giant moose came clip-clopping by our tent! They were less than 20 feet away! I quietly crept out of my sleeping bag to get a closer look…you can see photos of the “morning moose” here and here.
I recently had the honor and privilege to attend a friend‘s wedding in the Loir-et-Cher region of northern central France. During my time there, I stayed in the charming village of Trôo. The village is partly troglodytic, meaning that many of the homes are built into caves in the hillside. You can view photos of Trôo, along with photos of other spots I visited such as the castle at Lavardin and the Chartres cathedral, within my Flickr collection.
Illustration by Peter Arkle.
This week my Invisible Woman, Corrie Pikul, wrote a piece called Drip Stop for New York Magazine. In it, she tests and reports on the latest array of sweat prevention tools. If perspiration is problem for you, please peruse.
Corrie’s report received a wonderful full page treatment including the eye-catching illustration by Peter Arkle seen above. You can see more of Peter’s work on his website: peterarkle.com
“Small world” side note: Peter happens to be the husband of an editor at ELLE magazine, where Corrie works full-time!
Last Friday I was fortunate to see the Antonio López García exhibition at the MFA Boston. Having long admired his work, I was thrilled to see so many of his paintings, drawings, and sculptures in person. If you have the time and the inclination, I highly recommend seeing it before it closes July 27th.
While all of Antonio López García’s works are incredible, his drawings are especially stunning. Their attention to detail and their incredible depiction of light is astounding. One can stare at these for hours. Although my egg drawing above pales in comparison, I kept Antonio’s graphite gradations of tone in mind while I worked on it.
Recently I read two excellent graphic novels by the Italian comics creator Gipi. Both Garage Band and Notes For A War Story tell small yet compelling stories through rich characters and gorgeous art. While the characters are simply drawn, the landscapes they inhabit are intricate and impressive. Executed in pencils and watercolor, many panels are mini masterpieces. Above is my own watercolor cityscape inspired by his.
Gipi has his own blog. It is in Italian and you can see it here.
